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Wow, I really like this thread because I've been where the OP is before. Years ago I had ignorant people laughing at my decision to go the Mac way but those same people now have a Mac, go figure.

Here's what the OP can tell his brother and bro's friend.

Firstly Apple puts more emphasis on what the customer "needs" which most PC companies don't do anymore. For example:

Ask your brother's friend to show you the physical restore discs that came with his HP. Most likely he can't because most PC companies place the restore image on a partition on the hard drive to save money. This is bad because the customer has to burn their own and if they don't and an issue with the computer happens there's no way to access the restore image.
Apple ships restore DVD's with all of their Macs and you can have the option of a bare bones install of OS X or the included software package. The majority of PC's don't allow you to do a bare bones install of Vista from the restore image.

Apple gives a complete software package of really great software. Vista does ship with DVD, Movie and Photo editing however there's nothing that comes close to iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and Garageband. Match your included software package with your brother's friends HP.

Someone else mentioned about Macs being able to dual boot into Windows. That's a big plus and it's fully supported and you don't have to do any hacking. Even if you don't use Windows just the fact that your Mac can dual boot Windows and can run Linux increases the value of it a lot.

The resale value is much higher for Macs than common PC machines because the fit and finish is so much better. The reason Apple's Macintosh computers look so much better than the competition is because Apple pays a lot of attention to detail. They use good quality plastics for the Macbooks and the fit and finish is much better. Your brother's friend's HP is probably worth the $750+ that he paid for it.

Yes, specs can be comparable while the PC may be cheaper but I explained above why the PC would be cheaper. Also find out if that HP has bluetooth built-in and wireless N. It may have those however I just checked HP's website and those are options that cost extra, your Macbook is already equipped with that.

See, I didn't have to mention how great the Mac OS X operating system is or say bad things about Vista because the Macbook already is worth the extra cost before taking the OS into account. However since I'm on the subject of the OS, the Macbook comes out of the box with a 64 bit version of OS X and I'll bet the HP has 32 bit Windows on it.
Hopefully this helps.:)
 
Just Wait :)

They say a PC user buys a new system every 1 year to 18 months.
They say a Mac user buys a new system every 4-5 years.
Source: Apple Genius

So technically, he is the one spending more money but over a longer period.
My idea, shell out the money to begin with and then watch as the people who bought a PC, buy another PC whilst your MacBook runs exactly as it did when it left the box.

Good choice on laptop btw.

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Sorry, something just went wrong with the PC I typed this reply with :)
 
i don't have a laptop, but my wife does & has had 3 so far (pc) in the time that I've had my iMac. I've had my iMac for 4 years now without any virus protection & have never had any real problems. at least nothing that a web search or two couldn't handle. I'm 100% certain that none of my old pcs would handle what I've thrown my mac into. the only complaint i have about mac is that its pretty hard to convince my wife that i need (want) a new one when she knows theres absolutely nothing wrong with the one I'm using. THEY DONT DIE
 
And why was there a need to resurrect this 3-year-old thread?
The Mac vs. PC stuff gets really old. Enough new threads on the topic are started regularly. There's no need to dredge up old ones too.
 
Format both computers.

re-install the OSes and see who takes longer to get up and running.

jk. but no really, without driver discs for his windows laptop, he'll be scouring the internet (given that his ethernet controller driver is built into Vista) for hours looking for drivers. Macs work right out of the box after installing. No driver searching necessary.

anyways, dont pay attention to your bro or your friend.

we've had a good number of HPs/Compaqs come in with "broken" wifi. Whoever came up with a physical switch to turn it on and off is...well you know.

I work in a major electronic retailer's computer sales department. This is definitely a common solution I find for customers that ask me for help for troubleshooting. :p
 
That's like someone with cubic zirconium making fun of someone with a diamond. You pay more for a special and valuable product not some cheap rip off!

And is he really bragging about VISTA? the Fail of 2007? show him all of the negative reviews for vista then the positive of leopard/snow/lion etc they are all positive so lol just pick one.
 
There is no financial pro besides the higher resale value. Everybody who spends a single $ on Virus protection or such stuff on a PC is an idiot. MSE are good enough and free.

But if you compare PCs of similar quality they aren't much cheaper if at all.
Display Quality, contrast ratio, color gamut can only be found in few PC Notebooks and they usually don't come cheap either.
Notebooks with very good build quality (I am thinking Dell Latitude, HP Elitebook, Lenovo Thinkpad T) on the windows side don't cost half the Mac price. The same thin design at the same rigidity is not quite cheap either. Check out Sony Z13, Sony SA 13,3", Dell Adamo or a 15z isn't that much cheaper.
As thin and the same speed of the 15" isn't done in windows.
Decent battery life with Windows is around but the cheap stuff often sucks and some expensive ones too.

Expecially a decent screen, decent built quality and good battery life all in one Notebook is very difficult to find with Windows and definitely not for a cheap price. The Sony Z13 being one exception at a 2300€ starting price.

It really is an argument about whether the quality is worth the price for you or you just get the cheap stuff. Do you buy a decent mattress you spend most nights sleeping on, or do you get the cheapest you can find and ruin your back in the long term. Do you buy some decent tent or are you the one with cheap stuff that is difficult to set up and you get wet if you end up camping in really bad wheater.
Considering how much time some people spend in front of their Notebook, any, even a Sone SA is cheap, compared to much sports equipement, car extras and other stuff that costs more and gets used much less.
 
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